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August 20, 2012

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Olinga becomes La Liga's youngest scorer at 16

MALAGA'S Fabrice Olinga became the Spanish Primera Liga's youngest scorer at 16 years and 98 days old when his late goal earned a 1-0 win at promoted Celta Vigo in their season-opener on Saturday.

The Cameroonian striker, from Malaga's youth team, came on as a second-half substitute and bundled the ball in off his thigh from close range in the 84th minute.

Olinga passed Athletic Bilbao forward Iker Muniain in the record books, Malaga said on its website. Muniain was 16 years and 289 days old when he netted in La Liga in October 2009.

Olinga wrote on Twitter that he was "very happy for the game and the victory of the team, now back to Malaga and above all back to work".

Sevilla and Real Mallorca took temporary charge at the top of the standings with 2-1 home wins over Getafe and Espanyol, respectively.

Champion Real Madrid starts its defense of the title at home to Valencia yesterday and Barcelona's new coach Tito Vilanova debuts when Real Sociedad visits the Nou Camp.

Celta had mounted a desperate late charge in front of its own fans and was unlucky not to take a point against Malaga when a shot that hit the bar bounced just short of the line.

The result is a boost for Malaga which, despite finishing fourth last season to earn a place in the Champions League playoffs for the first time, has suffered a troubled preseason.

Delayed payments to players, the sales of Santi Cazorla and Salomon Rondon, the team's top scorer last season, and rumors that its Qatari owner was considering selling the club have overshadowed preparations for the new campaign.

Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini said a draw would have been a fair result, but preferred to switch his attentions to Wednesday's venture into Europe. "The group had to endure some difficult moments and this will help strengthen minds and team spirit," the Chilean said.

"Now we have to think about the Champions League tie against Panathinaikos."

Federico Fazio and Alvaro Negredo grabbed first-half goals for Sevilla in a 2-1 home win over Getafe.





 

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